May 21, 2007

HEO Overtime Lawsuit Victory

Nine LaGuardia employees in the HEO-series titles have won a significant victory in the fight on workload issues: They have settled a lawsuit winning the right to overtime pay after 40 hours of work in a week. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay overtime after 40 hours a week, but not all workers are covered; one criterion for coverage is the level of independent exercise of discretion and judgment. CUNY has classified all Assistant to HEOs and some HEO Assistants as being covered by the FLSA’s overtime provisions. The PSC is reviewing CUNY's categorization. For more on this story, click here.

Be “Outraged” this Week!

You’ve read about the “campaign of outrage” in the last several editions of This Week in the PSC, and now the15th week of the semester is here—the week in which adjuncts at five colleges are not paid to teach, only to proctor, no matter how much actual teaching they do. Today at noon at Baruch College we held the first of five demonstrations protesting this unfair, unprofessional and just plain cheap practice by CUNY. After a creative and lively demonstration in front of the Vertical Campus, we went upstairs to deliver 2,000 petition signatures to the Baruch president protesting the policy. Click here for photos from the day.

Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday or next Thursday to demand a change of policy:

Tuesday, May 22, 12 - 1:30pm, Bronx Community College, Language Hall

Wednesday, May 23, 12 - 1:30pm, College of Staten Island, Administration
Building 1A

Thursday, May 31, 2:00 - 3:30pm, Kingsborough Community College,
Administration Building A

For street addresses, campus maps, and more information on the campaign of outrage, click here.

Bargaining this Friday

The PSC bargaining team will be back at the negotiating table with CUNY management this Friday, May 25. To observe this session or a session later this spring or summer, contact Cheshire Frager at the union office at cfrager@pscmail.org. For a full list of our demands, management demands, analysis and more, visit the negotiations section on the website.

900 Petition Signatures in First Two Days

In its first two days on our website, the petition pledging support for the union’s vision for CUNY was signed by more than 900 faculty and staff. Colleagues from across the University registered their assent to the PSC’s demands for restoration of competitive salaries, strong tenure protections, improved working conditions and more—and their opposition to CUNY management’s agenda of weakening tenure, eliminating salary steps and increasing the use of exploited contingent labor. Each signature adds to our strength at the bargaining table, especially in rejecting management’s vision of a corporate, top-down university. If you haven’t already signed, do so today, especially as we go back to the bargaining table on Friday. Click here to read and sign the petition.

PSC Protest this Thursday:
Call on Clinton to De-Fund the War

More than 1,200 CUNY faculty, staff and students have signed petitions calling on Congress to end the war in Iraq now. The way to end the war is to cease funding the war, an action Congress is empowered to take. On Thursday, May 24 we will deliver the petitions to the office of Senator Hillary Clinton, calling on her to take an unequivocal position in favor of ending the war. Senator Clinton has often taken good positions on issues that affect PSC members and our students, but she has yet to vote to de-fund the war. Please join us for a rally at her office as the petitions are delivered. The rally is on Thursday, May 24 from 4:00-5:30pm, in front of Senator Clinton’s office: 780 Third Ave. at East 48th St. in Manhattan. To download a flyer for the event, go to the website; for more information, contact Mary Ann Carlese at 212-354-1252 or email mcarlese@pscmail.org.

My Five training May 31

There will be a training for My Five organizers and those thinking about becoming part of the network on Thursday, May 31, at 5:30pm at the union office. For more information about the My Five network or to sign up and join, click here.

“CUNY’s practice at five colleges of not paying adjuncts for teaching during finals week is unfair, cheap and an insult to our professionalism. It’s outrageous. This isn’t about a few dollars or one group of members; it is about all of us, about respect for our work, and about what kind of message CUNY sends to the public. I hope you can join me for at least one of the demonstrations this week: the policy must change.”
~Barbara Bowen, President